Amaranth
by Sweety Chou
Summary: Flora and Helia are now ruling the kingdom of Linfea as King and Queen. As everything seems to go fine the first years, the couple suddenly has to face three problems: the arrival of Veronica's daughter in the court, the surprising rebellion in Andros during Layla and Nex's wedding, and the pressure of the council upon them about children.
1. Chapter 1

**Here we are: the first chapter of** **Amaranth** **! I'm sorry it took forever to be uploaded, but this first chapter was rewritten… three times! I never managed to be satisfied with it; believe me, the first version was completely different! When I wrote it, I completely changed one point of the plot (if you want to know which one, please remind it to me in the reviews towards chapter 5 or 6). First of all, I'll reply to the reviews from the last chapter of** **Her red rose** **:**

 _ **Lover of romance246**_ **: I'm not satisfied with it, so if I finish it I'll rewrite it in the process.**

 _ **Winxkate**_ **: I'd like to thank you so much; your reviews are always so sweet, I'm glad you liked this story! Yep, Veronica has a daughter; but of course, this will be explained (If everything goes as I planned, in chapter 5!)**

 _ **Flora**_ **: Well, since there is this sequel, the story is not entirely over ;) Thank you for your comment, this is very nice!**

 **So concerning what's to come, I'd like to warn you: this might be a very cheesy chapter, but believe me, what I am planning for the next is not AT ALL; I'd go as far as saying this story will be darker than** **Her red rose** **had been. I think you can understand why since you read the summary. The ending will, at the same time be a happy and a sad ending. There will be a major death; but I won't tell you who is going to die.**

 **CHAPTER 1**

 _ **5 years later**_

"It's time for you to get ready, your highness." Michelle bowed from behind the young Queen. Flora turned around to greet her servant and noticed she was holding the white dress covered with the white transparent fabric she was supposed to wear in her hands; and her eyes quickly slipped to the wall clock.

"Isn't it a bit early to change myself? The banquet is only in three hours."

"When I took it off your wardrobe, I noticed some problems on it that I'd like to fix up." Michelle said. Flora stood up from her bed, placed the book she was currently reading on the night stand and sat in front of her pedestal table. Her servant approached. "After all, you have to be perfect for your husband's 30th birthday."

"Of course." Flora replied with a dreamily smile starting from her right ear and ending on her left one when she thought of her dear husband. She couldn't believe he was turning 30 this day; to think the two had met when they were ten… "But he still has to be the King of the party."

Michelle took the heart-shaped forehead jewel on the pedestal table and tied it up on Flora's head. She then grabbed the whole of the brunette's hair and begun doing it on a side braid that she was to let down on her right shoulder.

"But you're always the Queen of his parties; and there is nothing you could do against it, your highness."

Flora smiled in acknowledgement.

Throughout these five first years as King and Queen, they had held lots of parties and banquets in which everybody was invited if they wanted to come. This night was held a banquet for Helia's 30th birthday, where they had invited numerous of their friends for, at first, a private party. Unfortunately, almost none of them managed to be available; this was why they had decided they would invite whoever decided to come from their people in Linfea for a banquet instead.

Only recently had Flora managed to get used to this new life in royalty. She was fully aware of how numerous were the responsibilities that rested upon her shoulders and how much the people related to her, a woman who used to be a part of them, and the first year, this situation almost shocked her to the point she could not find the sleep she needed.

Despite this almost depression, the new Queen had finally managed to find some peace back thanks to her husband of seven years and her partner of fifteen years, Helia. No mattered how many times she had lost her temper and had begun to cry for hours, he would always be there with her, comforting her with one of his arm around her shoulders, what he had always did when she needed comfort. Of course, the both of them still had lots of work to do each day, but they did not let themselves suffocate with it.

For Flora, Helia was nothing more than her husband. Of course, in front of the people or of the council, they tried to act as professionally as possible, but behind closed doors, they became the old couple they had always been; this was something no one could take back from them: their love for each other.

"It looks like your husband was waiting for something on his birthday. I wonder what could be so important." The red-haired servant noticed when she looked at Helia's calendar, where the date of the 2nd of September was circled in red. Flora was broke off her thoughts and smiled at her question.

"It's not for his birthday, it's for our anniversary." She replied while Michelle tied her hair in a low braid. The servant raised her eyebrows.

"But, didn't you two get married on June?"

Flora shook her head. "Not our wedding anniversary, our first kiss anniversary."

"You remember when it first occured?" The servant asked, apparently surprised.

Flora giggled. "Of course."

 _It's been 15 years already._ She sighed; but it was a happy sigh. Never would she regret the day when the two had shared their first kiss; when he won the tournament to impress her. Flora recalled in every detail all the moments they had spent together during this decade; starting from their little battles to their awaited wedding seven years earlier.

Of course, none of them could forget the time gap that had parted them in between. This was something she would still have nightmares about, in nights where she would wake up and not manage to fall asleep after. In those horrible dreams she would see _this_ scene again, when he had fallen into her arms with a thin trail of bloom running out his mouth. Each time she would wake up crying rivers after doubting the reality of her life with her husband, this latter would wake up too, alarmed by her sobs, and hug her tightly for comfort. Thankfully, these nightmares had become less and less frequent, even though they still occurred. But now, she and Helia shared a relationship that they thought could not get stronger, but was reinforced each second.

"Here you are, Flora." Michelle announced, helping Flora to stand up. The Queen was indeed gorgeous; her white dress was fitting her tightly, and the transparent white fabric over it was held up on the waist by a very thin grey thread. ( **A/N: If you want to know how the dress looks like, take a look at Morgana's white dress from** **Merlin** **, the one with a small yellow pattern on the chest** ) "You look radiant."

"Thank you, Michelle." Flora thanked her servant. "But we are still early, why don't you get prepared?"

"Get prepared?" The red-haired asked, obviously surprised. "For what?"

"Don't you come to the banquet, tonight?" Flora asked.

"I thought you were organizing a party with your friends tonight…"

"No, a majority of our friends couldn't make it, so it turned into a banquet." Flora explained. "But you know that even if it would have been a party, you would have been invited."

"You're so nice with me, Flora." Michelle bowed, touched by so much kindness; after having served Diaspro and Chimera, serving such a wonderful woman had been a complete change. And this was the first time that she had been invited to any royal banquet of party. "I'll get ready to serve you tonight, your highness."

"You will have to make the most of the banquet too." Flora told her, and Michelle grinned happily.

"Of course."

* * *

Flora was still in a deep thought writing the peace letter for Queen Amentia, something she had promised the council she would do as soon as possible. She was holding the fountain pen with the tip of her fingers, her thoughts drifted from a remembering of the last meeting she had with the council to imagining what was supposed to occur this night at the banquet for Helia's 30th birthday.

She was at the same time very sad to learn none of the Winx nor Felicia would be able to come –since the princesses from the Winx Club had been crowned Queen and Felicia was busy with her new job- but also felt overjoyed when Layla added to her negative phone message answer the news she was to visit her soon to announce her something. Flora was certain this concerned Nex; she would have bet her life on it. And no one could know how right she was at this moment.

When she heard the door open behind her, from the sound of footsteps, she recognized her husband's presence. With a grin, she turned around and noticed she was right.

None of Helia and she change much during these seven years. Flora had kept her unique beauty, and when they had held parties at the castle, the guests had never needed to be asked twice to remind her of this. Helia was under a similar situation; despite entering his 30th today, he was still looking very good and had kept his soft and gentle features that would make anyone fall for him.

"Hey." Helia said. He kissed the top of Flora's head sweetly, and Flora giggled at his gesture. "Hey."

He took both her hands and helped her getting up. His eyes which were at first locked in hers managed to get freed and travelled from the top of her head to the bottom of her dress.

"You look so beautiful; a true goddess." He complimented her and kissed the back of her hand.

"Thank you honey." She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. He returned her embrace pouring as much strength as she was doing. This was something that had always surprised their council; the fact that after a fifteen-year relationship, none of their feelings for the other had even lightly declined. They loved each other so deeply and tenderly, and nothing could part them from the other.

"Are you ready for the banquet?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I guess I'd rather celebrate our anniversary," Flora started and leant back with a smirk "just with the both of us,"

"In the forest,"

"On _our_ spot,"

"Without anything around." Helia finished the sentence Flora had started before. The two laughed at their complementarity, and the King held her tightly against him pressing his lips on hers. He was once again rediscovering the honey taste of her lips, which he always felt like forgetting when they parted. And this liplock would not leave any of the two satisfied.

Flora felt his tongue tracing her lips, and having known the process of his kisses for fifteen years; she opened her mouth and accepted his tongue gladly. Her arms tightened their grip around his neck, but her hand soon felt the need to touch his hair, and so she deepened the strength of their kiss by pressing his face even harder against hers.

Unfortunately, the moment had to be cut off when a personal guard of Helia knocked at their door. "Your highness, my lady, the banquet is about to start. We are waiting for you."

"We are coming." Flora answered without leaving her husband's arms. She sighed deeply. "I wish I could have you all for myself right now."

"I wish it too." Helia answered, holding his wife even more closely. "But don't worry, it will only be the two of us, we are going to celebrate our anniversary properly."

"Did you plan something?" Flora asked, earning a wink from her husband.

"You'll see." He then turned around and showed her his arm for her to take. "Are you ready, now, Love?"

Flora nodded and took his arm in her hand while he guided her to the banquet room, next to the hall of the castle.

"I planned something too." She whispered in his ear as they finally reached their destination. The walls were decorated with birthday banners and roses bouquets, and the inner wall were very similar; except from all the guest who had already arrived.

* * *

"Mom, dad." Helia greeted his parents, the same way Flora did with hers. Of course their families would be the first guests to be invited. During the first three years, Aniello and Maia had stayed in the castle where they had kept their room, but when they realized Helia and Flora had begun to adapt to their new life, they started taking vacations and time for themselves, encouraged by the new rulers, even though there was never a single moment when they wouldn't be available if their son and daughter-in-law needed them.

"Happy birthday, sweetie." Maia wished her son while hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry that your grandfather could not come. He did not answer the phone."

"It's okay." Helia replied with a sincere smile. He was not mad at his grandfather for not coming and he certainly couldn't be. He knew how busy he was at Red Fountain with all these exams and students to look after.

After a few minutes of chatting, Helia and Flora took each other's hand back and walked towards their thrones at the end of the room. Everybody sat down; the places on the left of the room were reserved for the council members and their close relatives. On the right side were placed for the other guests, whoever wanted to sit there.

The room was full and the atmosphere was very light, and most of all, friendly. Everybody was chatting, discussing about everything and nothing –mainly the food-, waiting to grab the opportunity and greet their rulers.

Flora suddenly stood up after hitting Helia's glass several time with her silver knife. The whole room was then filled with silence, and everybody turned their glances to her. In this situation where everybody was staring at her, she used to feel embarrassed, but this anxiousness had grown to disappear.

"Good evening to all of you. I'm sure you all know why this party is being heldFlora raised her glass of wine in the air for her dear husband. "Now, your King is 30. And he is still the same adult child you all have grown to love and that I have to bear every day of my life."

In return she earned giggles from all the guests; including Helia's.

"But today, this is not only the birthday of such a man. This is also an anniversary for the both of us. And to celebrate this, I wanted to do something, a little speech of my own."

Helia placed the back of his knuckles under his chin with an amused smile while he curiously looked up at his wife.

"However, I have to admit something. I was supposed to find one reason to leave versus twelve reasons to stay. I was caught because I could not find any reason to leave against almost twenty reasons to stay."

The King's smile grew wider. He had finally understood what she had to announce, what her speech was about. Knowing his wife by heart, he knew she did not even try to find any reason to leave him, the same way he would not.

"This made me realize something." She announced after taking a mouthful of her wine. "This made me realize that I was the luckiest of all the women of the universe. Because I am the happiest one, married to the most incredible man of the galaxy, who treats his wife as the most priceless treasure, who acts nicely and kindly with everybody who crosses his path, who is forgiving, funny, loving, and if that's not enough for you to understand why I'm staying, I'll tell you exactly why."

This time, Flora stopped looking at the guests and instead did the same to Helia. "I love my husband, more than everything. And I would not wish for any other."

At this moment, she earned the clapping of all the guests. Helia stood up and wrapped one of his arms around her waist to bring her closer to his chest.

"I love you too, so much."

The guests clapped again as Helia leant down to kiss his wife on the lips. It was something they used to do in public; they loved each other and had no reason to hide it neither from their people nor from their allies. This day was also the day of their anniversary, and the two were determined to make the most of this day.

And everything ended as quickly as it had started. Flora and Helia parted and followed the guests' looks turned to the room entrance, where two guards were almost dragging a young girl. "I did not do anything!" The young girl whined. The two armoured guys threw her on the floor towards the rulers' places with her face covered with bangs of her long white hair.

"What's going on?" Helia sharply asked; what he hated the most was being interrupted when he kissed Flora, even though this time, the two were in front of a public.

"This young girl was found interacting with one of our prisoners, your highness." The left guard told the King standing as straight as a wooden log in his armour.

As her husband got his information, Flora, on the other hand, did not listen and just examined the young girl when her hair finally was removed from her face. She never saw her but one thing was sure of, these features were familiar. These sharp -yet innocent- red-eyes, this white hair, this as pale as snow skin… Flora definitely knew them. And her feeling of distress came back when she finally managed to put a name on them.

These were features she would have preferred to erase from her memory for eternity.

"Veronica." Flora muttered taking a step backward, trying to escape this return of the past. Helia grabbed her wrist when he noticed her as white as a sheet expression.

"What's wrong, Love?" He asked her. Flora did not manage to answer immediately; her voice could only produce meaningless sounds.

"S-It's-She's-"

"Love, calm down. Breathe." Helia whispered to her grabbing both her shoulders into both his hands. Flora did as she was told and inhaled and blew out.

"She looks so much like… _her_." Flora confessed, unable to pronounce this name that would bring all those nightmares back.

And this was only the beggining.

* * *

 **I hope you liked this first chapter! Yes, we are already starting with the drama, but don't worry, this won't last for long... or that's what the characters will think! Like I wrote at the beggining, this story might be darker than Her red rose.**

 **I'd love to read your reviews, and also read what you expect to happen throughout the story if you have theories.**

 **See you on the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello eveybody! Here is the second chapter of Amaranth! This chapter contains a handful of new characters, and I couldn't introduce all of them in the chapter. So, if you want to know them better, I described them at the end of the chapter.  
**

 **First of all, the shoutouts:**

 _ **Winxkate**_ **: Thank you for your review! Yes, I Queen Flora too, I see her as a very good one actually! Well, like I said in the first chapter, this will be quite a dark story ;)  
**

 _ **Lovelykavya**_ **: Thank you, I'm glad you liked this chapter!**

 _ **Flora**_ **: Thanks for your review! Well, of course there will be an explanation for this. If everything goes the way I planned it, you will have an answer on chapter 5 ;)**

 **For now, I wish you a good reading!**

 **Chapter 2**

 _ **The next day…**_

"What did she want?"

"Why do they look so alike?"

"Is she here under her orders?"

"Calm down, everyone." Helia gestured to his council. All the members had been standing up, complaining, anxious, about the arrival of this young girl, who was, no one could contest, the spitting image of their prisoner of seven years: Veronica, Flora and Helia's worst nightmare. "Calm down and sit down."

Helia and his wife exchanged a brief look. But the expression on his sweet's face made his heart squeeze tightly. The last time he saw such a broken, anxious expression was seven years before, when he ordered her to stand up as she was root to the ground. When she finally saw him again, after a year of being reminded he would never come back. And this brought him this nightmare, these visions he swore he would try to forget, and he swore he would make his wife forget.

And here they were.

"There must be an explanation."

"Sire, this girl was found discussing with no one else than Veronica!" Demeter exclaimed. This woman had been the head of the council for more than 20 years, and was often the one who took the decisions during the meeting when the King and Queen's words were not necessary.

Each of the six members had an assigned seat, representing their specialty. The closest to the rulers was of course Demeter, leader of the council. Next to her was an old man with early signs of baldness, named Rino, and then came Anita, Teseo, Wilma and at the end of the table, Elena. ( **A/N: READ THE NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER** )

"Why don't we listen to her explanations before jumping to any conclusion?" Helia suggested.

Demeter stood up once again, and was followed by Rino, whose specialty was the case of the highest prisoners. And of course, he was not going to let this girl go easily. "Remember how manipulative Veronica is."

"But what tells us the two are related?" Anita asked, quite rightly. "After all, the two may just look alike."

"But then, why would she be discussing with Veronica?" Demeter underlined.

"It may just be a terrible coincidence." Anita added. "We are just using "maybe". We cannot be sure of anything."

"Then, let's give her an audience." Wilma suggested as she stood up in her turn. "Let's listen to what she has to say."

"How can we be sure she is not planning anything?" Rino wondered.

"If she is related to Veronica, we can't trust her." Demeter announced solemnly.

"We cannot be sure of anything before listening." Anita said.

"And we will listen to her tomorrow." Helia finally decided, turning around and sitting back on his throne. He then placed his right hand over Flora's left one and squeezed it tenderly for comfort; Flora whose gaze was buried into nothingness. Helia quickly understood what she was thinking about, and couldn't let her fall into sadness again. "And then, we will take our decision."

* * *

After changing into his pajamas, which only consisted on softer pants, Helia lay down next to his Flora. When they left the council, she had directly come back into her room and changed into her nightgown. Instead of their usual position where she turned her back to him and he held her from behind, she shifted side and placed her cheek on his chest. This was the only move she had made since the beginning of the day. Helia understood what she needed the most was comfort.

"I'm scared." She mumbled. Helia, who had his arm extended on the bed, moved his hand to entangle his fingers with her caramel hair. He wanted to lie to her just to tell her everything was going to be fine. But he was perfectly aware of how well she knew him, and how he could _never_ lie to her. So, he gave her a sincere answer.

"I am too." Of course, he was. After all, the only memory that the name of the Witch brought to him was Flora crying rivers, a knife between the wings. And this picture was the last picture he wanted to be reminded of.

"What if… Veronica has another plan to ruin us?" Flora suggested with a trail of panic into her voice. This was the worst thing she could have imagined at this moment. For years she had imagined she had finally found peace, that she and her husband would never have any trouble anymore, that she could leave the past in the past and forget about it… And BAM, their nightmares came back!

"She can't." Helia pushed Flora closer to him, with one of his hand around her waist. At this point half her body was on the top of his, but none of them seemed to mind. "She can't pull us apart anymore, Love."

"I know." Flora whispered, moving her face on the crook of his neck. "But that's not what scares me."

"What does, then?" Helia asked after kissing the top of her hair tenderly.

"Everything." She sighed. "The council, the people, the future… Each time I think of… _her_ , I feel like everything is going wrong, that-"

Helia took her chin between his thumb and index and lifted it up, locking their eyes together. His fingers moved away and removed the small strands of her that had fallen on her face "Flora, nothing is going wrong. This situation will soon be settled, and we will finally be able to live in tranquility again." Seeing no expression change on her face, he cupped her cheek once again. "Love, what is _really_ bothering you?"

"I can't help it." Flora said. Helia raised his eyebrows; _what does she mean?_

"Each time I think of… _this_ I-I feel so guilty again a-and…"

Helia cut her off by planting his lips against hers for a short yet tender kiss. When he leant away, Flora opened her eyes without looking at him. So Helia placed his fingers back where they were, and seeing her gulp made his heart ache. He knew that no matter what he would say, she would not feel better. No mattered what happened during these seven years, this feeling of guilt had never left her, the same way it didn't leave Helia. So, he decided to tell her something else. "I love you, so much."

Finally, a hint of a smile broke off her lips. "I love you even more."

And with that said, Flora sighed again and closed her eyes, without moving her face away from his chest. Helia kissed the top of her head another time.

 _Goodnight, Love._

 _Pain._

 _Pain was all she could feel at this moment. It was as physical as emotional. She felt like her heart had been pierced with a needle and was bleeding. And she had not been hit. But it felt like it so much that she may have preferred to be hit. She never thought it was possible to feel so much pain without being harmed physically._

 _Helia fell onto her arms with a groan as the brunette tried to keep him standing up, but collapsed with him due to his weight._

" _N-No…"_

 _Helia was holding his chest with one on his hand tightly while trying to keep the blood in, but this was no use. The wound was too deep to be cured. Flora's vision was blurred by her tears, her hands were shaking as she noticed the blood on them, the same blood that was ruining his grey shirt._

" _H-Helia…"_

" _Flora…" Helia managed to whisper through gritted teeth. "I-I'm sorry…"_

" _D-don't…" Flora could not believe what was happening under her eyes. This could not be possible. It was only a nightmare. "Don't l-leave me!"_

" _I will never." Helia managed to raise his arm and rub her cheek softly. "I p-promised, remember? I will be with you, forever, Love."_

" _Y-you're l-lying…" Flora's tears fell all over his face. Her sobs almost prevented her from talking. "S-Stop lying to me!"_

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Flora woke up panting heavily and breathing with great difficulties. She did not have time to make sure her husband was indeed sleeping next to her, Helia was brutally taken off his sleep by her scream, and when he noticed her sobs, he wrapped his arms around her.

"Shhhh, I'm here Love" Helia soothed her. After seven years, he had got used to this situation, where Flora would wake up screaming after having a nightmare of the past. What he wished more than everything was to erase this memory from her mind, so she would stop waking up at the middle of the night, and so he would stop seeing her tears that ruined her wonderful face. "I'm here love, I'm always here."

"D-Don't leave me!" She yelled and hugged his neck tightly enough to shock him. He would never blame her for this reaction, and certainly not at this moment when their past had come back to them as a cannonball.

"I won't leave you anymore, Love. You know I won't." He whispered in her ear and moved to kiss her temple.

"I'm here."

* * *

The young prisoner was thrown at the bottom of the stairs which lead to Flora's and Helia's royal armchairs. The two were, more than true royal attires, wearing their official crowns on their heads, despite the usual forehead for Flora and the small crown of Helia. Like this, they looked way more serious and, most of all, like threatening rulers. At least from the prisoner's point of view.

"What is your name, young girl?" Helia asked solemnly, but the girl did not reply immediately nor look at the rulers in the eyes. She was obviously scared of them, and apparently did not want to harm way the same way... the witch did.

"I-M-I…" She stuttered; she was so anxious she couldn't form any sentence.

"Answer!" Demeter yelled at her, but Helia firmly lifted his hand for her to shut up. The lavender-haired obliged without protest and cleared her throat in apology.

"Just tell us your name, we won't harm you." Helia repeated his question, but with a more understanding tone. He knew that harshness and cruelty was not a solution and would only get her back up. This time, stunned by so much kindness, she managed to mumble her name.

"K-Kali."

"Kali." Flora repeated. She had from the very first moment understood that the girl was terrified. Even though there was a possibility of her being related to Veronica, for now, she had not done anything harming. And Flora's kind heart always guided her, and had always prohibited her any cruelty. "Do you know why you've been arrested?"

Kali nodded, and gulped. "B-But I did not do anything with her, your highness, I swear." Kali told her. She was on the verge of tears, and it was not difficult to tell these were sincere tears and not pretended ones. Flora felt her heart squeeze a little at the sight of this poor girl. "I-I just wanted to see my mother, that's all."

"Your mother?" Flora raised her eyebrows in curiosity. How could it be possible? How could Veronica have a daughter? If this was true… Why didn't she have heard about it? "Veronica h-had a daughter?"

The young girl nodded. "I-I cannot apologize for my mother's actions and I understand you cannot forgive her, b-but-"

"There is no "but"!" Rino yelled pointing his index down at her. In fear, Kali lowered her head with a gasp and did not finish her sentence. "You're well aware that contact with our prisoners in forbidden! You've broken the laws!"

"B-But she-she's my mother…"

"That's not a reason!" Demeter yelled too. "Why didn't you ask for permission before?!"

"I-I…" Kali stuttered; she was obviously completely scared. "I-I knew y-you would say n-no…"

"Then, you had no right to-" The purple-haired started, but was cut off when she encountered Helia's and Flora's glares. She gulped, and Rino suggested his solution. "Take her away, to the dungeons, for treason. We will give our final judgment tomorrow."

Instead of nodding, Flora and Helia looked at each other. They did not need any word, any sound, to understand each other, to foresee what they were planning.

 _Are you sure?_

 _No, but I think it is the right solution for now_.

 _You are right._

"Stop." Helia ordered his guards. They both turned around and stopped their walk. Flora stood up from her throne and climbed down the steps, the bottom of her long green dress touching the floor behind her. Her serious look did not leave Kali, who was staring at her curiously.

"Let her go." Flora told them firmly. All the council members and the guards stared at her in disbelief and Kali's expression was not much different.

"B-But, your highness," Demeter started, but was soon interrupted by Rino, who finished her sentence "She's her daughter! How can we trust her?"

"We can give her the benefit of the doubt." Helia stated and joined his wife at the bottom of the stairs. The two tried to discretely intertwine their fingers together but failed, since the action was seen by everyone. This hand contact cooled Flora's heart down a bit; _this is the right solution._ "She cannot be blamed for missing her mother."

"We cannot be sure of anything, your highness." Rino said but still bowed in respect. "Remember, this girl is Veronica's daughter. It is unsure if we can trust her."

"Yes, you are right, but not all children are the spitting image of their parents." Flora added. "And these tears are not the tears of a liar. I trust it with my life."

Left with no other arguments, Rino and Demeter bowed and left the room with their stuff and papers. The guards bowed too, and raised Kali up to take the handcuffs off her wrists. Surprisingly, instead of running away from the moment the guards let go of her arms and opened the handcuffs, Kali stood up and walked closer to the Queen, where she knelt in respect, earning Flora's widened eyes in return. "I'll never forget your kindness, my Queen. Never."

* * *

Flora did not manage to fall asleep. She had been lying on her side for hours and yet, no sign of tiredness appeared. Helia was sitting next to her with a book in his hands, and he either did not seem ready to fall asleep. Flora's mind was only full of the recent events, but she was completely aware that it was not a good thing. That was why she sat up and laid her head on her husband's shoulder.

"Can we talk?" She asked. Helia closed his book and looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked back. Flora smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Nothing's wrong. I just can't sleep."

Reassured, Helia smiled back at her. "What do you want to talk about?"

Flora thought for a few moments, and then found a subject to talk about. "You said you planned something for us two days ago. What did you usually plan for our anniversary?" She asked.

Helia remained silent for a few moments, but finally sighed and placed the book he was currently reading on the table next to him. He took off the sheets of him, stood up, walked towards the pair of jeans he had left on the back of a chair and took out a small velvet box from his pocket. He sat back on the bed, but this time next to her, slowly opened it to reveal a silver necklace, trimmed by a scarlet heart-shaped gemstone. Flora was amazed by the beauty of the piece of jewelry.

"I wanted to offer it to you, in the forest where I would have taken you." He sighed once again; he looked so disappointed. "I would have given it to you with a bouquet of 101 roses-"

"… because it means _"crazed with love_ "." Flora finished his sentence. Helia nodded, and Flora's heart ached seeing how feeling down he was. They did not have lots of time for themselves during the day, and this would have been an occasion for him to have his wife for himself alone for a whole day, and out of the castle. But things did not go as he wished…

So, she knelt behind him and hugged his neck from behind placing her chin on his shoulder. He was currently shirtless, so he could feel the warmth of her body on his bare back and the feeling of her skin against his made all the hair of his body raise up.

"Don't be sad, honey." Flora whispered in his ear.

"I'm not sad." Helia took one of her hand in his and squeezed it tenderly. "I'm just disappointed, I wanted to give you a wonderful anniversary."

"Helia." Flora started, cupping his face in her hands. "I love you. Your presence is everything I need for the best of anniversaries."

"You're so cheesy." Helia whispered with, finally, a smile. "But I love it that way." He then shifted their positions and placed the necklace delicately around her thin neck.

"It is a beautiful pendant my love." Flora said and kissed his cheek tenderly once again. "Thank you."

"No, I should be the one thanking you, I'm so grateful for having you." He replied. He took both her arms and brought her closer to him so they could share another passionate kiss. Then, an idea spotted on Helia's mind.

"Why don't we go there?"

"In the forest?" Flora blinked several times. "Now?"

"Yes, it's not far from here. So we can enjoy a night out, just the two of us." He whispered with a smirk. Flora smiled back, and began imagining how their night would end. They would be cuddling on the grass, lying on their backs, sometimes kissing, roaming their hands on each other's hair, and after a while guiding their hands lower, then he would move on the top of her…

Flora shook her head and blushed furiously. Despite having grown used to these situation in which the two would… go further than sharing only innocent kisses, finding herself with these kind of thoughts always embarrassed her to a great extent. When Helia would understand the reason of her embarrassment, he would always laugh, and the situation would always get out of control.

"A-Alright. Let's go." Flora whispered and opened her closet. She did not bother taking other clothes; she just put on a red coat and a pair of shoes over her nightgown. Helia did the same, and the two reached their destination in a matter of minutes.

It was past midnight and of course, Helia had planned it. He sat down and placed his back against a tree, letting Flora join him. At first, she just leant her head against his shoulder, but soon enough the cold began to defeat her. So, as the King had predicted, he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm.

"It's been so long since we came here." She whispered leaning deeper into his touch. He kissed the top of her head tenderly.

"Yeah… I missed it so much."

Soon, Flora felt this embarrassing feeling climbing up again, as she tilted her head up and took his lips with hers. His hand moved from her shoulder to her hair applying a deeper pressure on their kiss. Helia leant back a bit, so he could move his lips down, leaving a trail of kisses over her jawline, her cheek, until he reached her neck.

Her coat was covering too much of her neck, and Flora understood it by the way he insisted on kissing every inch of the uncovered. And she was not satisfied with it _at all_. So, she pushed him away.

Helia was first surprised; she usually never pushed him away this way… But these ideas were broken when he noticed her fingers quickly unzipping her coat and then slowly letting it fall next to her. The smirk that quickly appeared on her lips made him realize this slow pace was on purpose.

When the piece of cloth was finally removed and had reached the ground, the cold immediately began harassing her and hit her bare skin. She quickly crossed her arms and rubbed the top of her arms with her hands; this was why Helia decided to take the lead. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders again and placed his lips back on her neck. The warmth of his lips and of his body resulted on a moan slipping out her sweet mouth. "I love you, so much."

"I love you even more."

After this, Helia lost the control of his hands and moved them all over her bare legs without stopping the trails of kisses over her neck as she also unzipped his own coat. For years they had slept next to each other on their bed, she had of course seen his bare chest every day, but it was only when they were on this situation that she truly noticed it. When his coat fell next to hers, she started blindly roaming the palm of her hands all over his toned muscles while Helia kept kissing the soft spots of her neck. Flora, after a few moments, decided to take everything a step further and lay down on the grass, bringing Helia with her.

And as predicted, the situation soon got out of control, but for their benefits and happiness.

* * *

 **Ending note:** The council members will play an important role towards chapters 7/8. So, I'll explain briefly what their roles on Linfea are:

 **Demeter** : Everything is told on the chapter, she is the head of the council, and in casual meetings where Helia and Flora are not necessitated, she decides (and she is Krystal's mother).

 **Rino** : When a high prisoner escapes, or when someone commits a too important crime, he summons the council and proposes a solution on what to do. He is one of the three members who constantly need the presence of the King and the Queen.

 **Anita** : She takes care of the planet in itself and makes sure nature flows in perfect harmony, and that anyone who interferes is punished; in other words, if I want to give you an example, in the episode 3x12, if _the Trix had been caught by the army, they would have been sentenced by Anita for having broken the cycle of the Willow Tree._

 **Teseo** : On the other hand, Teseo's role concerns the other planets. He makes sure the contact is still good, and is there to summon the council if anything goes wrong and if peace is compromised. He and Anita cannot take decision by themselves and also need the rulers to agree.

 **Wilma** : She is the one who prepares the recruitments on the army, and makes sure the soldiers are trustworthy and willing to serve their kingdom.

 **Elena** : Elena is the one who makes sure the people is happy and deals with any trouble that would occur on the cities, and also secretly watches out for any sign of treason in the council. She is sort of the spy of Flora and Helia.

 **I hope you liked this chapter as well. For Layla's fan, let me tell you, she will be back on the next chapter! Next chapter will be quite a soft one, with FloraxLayla friendship, but in chapter 4, troubles will be coming!**

 **See you on the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! I'm sorry for the wait since the last chapter, I've had some troubles with writing this chapter. Before the actual chapter, I have two things to ask you:  
**

 **So, as some of you might have seen, I've written an OS last week called** _ **Peonies**_ **(by the way, thanks to all of those who reviewed!). Just after, I opened some of my OS projects files, and there are two that I'd like to write. So, I'll give you the summaries of the two OS, tell me which one you would prefer to read first. But don't worry, I'll write both!**

 _ **Out of nowhere:**_ **Some people do not believe in love at first sight: "this is just a myth", "this does not mean anything", and so on. Prince Helia pondered this in his head when his gaze met the Queen's, but this was useless.**

 _ **My land**_ **: Flora and Helia, 2 musicians, met on the net, on the day of Christmas. 2 years have passed, they "go out together", yet they still hadn't met, because Helia refuses to. Flora, whose feelings cannot stop growing wonders if it has something to do with her… while it has something to do with him.**

 **Then, I have another question. I re-read my file about For Her Freedom, and I kind of liked my original idea. When we'll reach the end of Amaranth, would you like me to re-write the first chapters of** _ **For her freedom**_ **and of course finish it? Or me to find another idea of fanfic? Of course it is early to ask, but I'd like to do it now, so I could start thinking about a rewriting of this old fanfiction or thinking of some new ideas.**

 **So, now, I'll reply to the reviews:**

 ** _Winxkate_ : Once again, thanks for your review! Well, this is sad for Flora, but the end of the fanfic will be even more for her.  
**

 _ **Saline Press**_ **: To be honest, I choosed this name because I liked the sound of it. I think you have a great name! :)**

 _ **Lovelykavya**_ **: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you like Flora and Helia's relationship!  
**

 _ **Windrea**_ **: Thanks a lot! And I'm sorry for the wait :)**

 _ **Guest**_ **: Of course I'll continue, don't worry ;)  
**

 **CHAPTER 3**

 _ **3 weeks later**_

"What are you doing?" Helia asked Flora with this bed-in blurred vision. Flora was straightening the top of her blue dress with her left hand and was grabbing the beige cardigan she had thrown on the chair the night before without folding it. It was 8 in the morning, and at this time of the day, the Queen was usually only waking up, or being shaken by Michelle or Helia while she grumbled it was "too early to wake up". She turned around at him, finally noticing he was awake.

"The council wants to see me, alone." She replied.

Helia sat and rubbed his eyes with one of his fists, and pushed away the covers from his legs. "What do they want from you?"

Flora shrugged. "I'll see. I have to go, I'll be late." She then started to show a clean pair of heels, but Helia cleared his throat to get her attention back to him. "Didn't you forget something?"

The brunette smirked but did not turn around. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Seeing her not going out of the room, Helia got off his bed and hugged her shoulders from behind. He buried his face on her thick hair, still half-asleep, and despite what would seem like an inaudible sound for some, Flora knew her husband enough to understand his words: "I want a kiss."

"Later." Flora stuck her tongue out at him and pushed him away a little. "I am late, and you're not even awake."

"I'll wake up if you gave me a kiss." Helia complained; his angelic and child-like face was too irresistible for her not to oblige. She turned around and pecked his lips tenderly.

"That was not a kiss." He complained. Flora chuckled but pushed him again, this time he fell like a log on his back onto the bed. "You'll have to wait." Flora winked, but only earned a groan from Helia in return before she got out of the room and began walking to the council room.

In five years, the council had never asked to meet her alone. Each time they called for a gathering, Helia was always asked to be present as King and since he was married, his wife had to go too, but this time, they formally told Flora that Helia couldn't come because they wanted to talk to her only. Of course, this was a source of anxiousness for Flora: she was not used to go to the council alone. The only time she had done so was a year before. Helia had caught the Linfean flu and couldn't get out of bed, and Flora had no right to see him in fear she would catch it also. However, an urgent gathering was required, and at least one of the rulers was necessary. So, Flora had no other choice and had gone alone. She recalled in every detail how anxious she had been, and how her heartbeat had quickened each time all glances had turned to her asking for her opinion. Fortunately, everything had gone fine.

Flora soon reached the chamber and knocked at the wooden door with the knuckle of her index before pushing it and coming in. All the council members were already here, standing up, all waiting for her arrival.

"Good morning to you all." Flora saluted politely, making sure she was standing straight. "Sorry for my lateness."

"You're perfectly in time, your highness." Demeter replied with a forced smile. This did not please Flora.

"What did you want from me?" The Queen asked after sitting on her respective chair. She did not have hard time noticing all the glances the council members exchanged with each other before Demeter had stood up and cleared her throat. She feared the worst.

"Your highness, you and our King have now reached your 30th, and at that age, there is an important subject to discuss with you."

"Go on." Flora told Demeter in belief she would relax, but her uneasiness kept distorting her features, and this did not reassure her Queen.

"It is time for you to think about succession with your heir." The lavender haired announced. Flora blinked several times, and soon placed her elbow on the table with the back of her hand under her chin.

"But we have no-" Then, Flora's neurons connected and her mind clicked. Of course, she and Helia were not parents yet. And this was the council's point.

"We are so sorry, my Queen, but this is important." Anita told her intertwining her fingers and placing them onto the table before her. "You must understand that if you and our King do not have any child and die, then, this will be the end of this dynasty." Demeter shot a look at her, and Anita immediatly kept quiet.

"But we have barely entered our 30th!" Flora exclaimed, and all looks darkened in respect and compassion.

"We are aware of this, my Queen." Demeter bowed. "But imagine if tomorrow, one of you two got involved into an accident or get dangerously ill, what about the future of the kingdom?"

Flora remained silent for a few minutes, but soon another matter spotted in her mind. "Okay, okay I understand. But, why did you want to tell me only?"

"Because we know your husband." Demeter said. "We know he would argue."

"So, you took advantage of my weaknesses?"

"No!" The lavender-haired argued, surprisingly without any movement from the others. Flora noticed this, but did not really pay attention to it because everything was already too difficult to swallow. "It is just that you are more understanding than your husband, your highness. We all know that our King would have said if he was there with you. He would have said no without understanding."

Flora clenched her teeth: Demeter's explanations were neither satisfying nor coherent. But, like the rest, she decided not to pay attention.

"So, now, what am I supposed to do? To tell him everything you told me? To make sure I got pregnant without his consent?" Flora began to ask bitterly and harshly. Demeter bit her lower lip and continued.

"That yours to decide of what to tell your husband, your highness. But remember, an heir would be necessary before the end of the year, and we will have to repeat it again and again." She replied. After a 2-minute heavy silence that had fallen onto the room, the head of the council cleared her throat and changed the subject of discussion. "So, now that the bomb had been dropped, let's discuss about-"

"Do you need my presence?" Flora interrupted; the lavender haired stared at her and shook her head. Flora stood up and began walking towards the door. All the members stood up and bowed in respect at their Queen. "I'll let you discuss alone. I have children to think about, _after all_." The end of her sentence was pronounced with a lot of bitterness, showing them she was really disappointed with their behaviour.

Flora roamed in the castle corridors for dozens of minutes, her mind as blank as the day she was born… except from several questions that she kept pondering in her head. How was she going to announce it to Helia? How were they going to cope with this situation? What if Helia disagreed?

She sat on a bench on the garden and sighed heavily. Children had not been a regular subject between her and her husband; of course they had discussed about becoming parents several times, and each time they told each other this was something that would come naturally, and that no mattered if they had a boy or a girl, it would be the same. But they never told each other _when_ they wanted to be parents, and Flora realized it would have been better. Because at this moment, having a child had shift from being a pleasure and proud to be an obligation and priority, and not a pleasure and pure joy they would have when Flora would tell her husband she would be pregnant. It was just going to be pure relief because the council would finally leave them alone and stop repeating them this was important to have an heir before the end of the year and think of succession.

She repeated her action by sighing again. She did not want to have an heir; she wanted to have a _child_. She wanted to be a mother, a normal mother, taking care of her baby, playing with him, being the mother he would need. But with the council pressure, and the importance of the word _heir_ , Flora's worst fear was that she would have no time for her baby, because her child would grow up not with his parents but with the council being taught the responsibilities of a prince and of a King, and this was an idea Flora couldn't bear.

The young Queen did not feel anything but… anger. Anger was strong of a word; the right one would be "disappointment". She was disappointed with so much: with the council, with the situation that had slipped between her fingers like drops of water, and certainly more than everything, with herself. She should have thought about children before, she should have been more thoughtful, and she should have discussed this subject with Helia more seriously.

 _Helia…_ Flora thought of her husband and gripped the bottom of her blue knee-length dress with the hope her despair would cool down, but it was useless. She was scared; what would he be saying if she got pregnant? Would he really be happy to become a father soon? Of course he was ready; Flora knew he was going to be the best father of the universe. But was it his wish too?

"Here you are." She heard a sweet voice from behind her. Helia was walking towards her and sat next to her, placing an arm around her shoulders tenderly, the same way he always did. Flora immediately felt some comfort for seconds, until what he asked her then brought back this awful topic. "So, how has it been with the council?"

Flora froze for a few moments, unaware of what to tell him. Helia would notice from the first second of her reply that she was lying; so she was willing to be sincere. But words did not escape her lips: she realized how hard it had been to receive this news out of nowhere. So, she couldn't help. "Okay… I guess?"

Helia rolled his eyes with a smile, obviously not believing a word of her reply. "What's wrong? What did they tell you?"

"Nothing important." She lied again. She felt bad lying to him, but this was not the moment to tell him; she would have to wait to tell him soon, but at this moment, she was too disappointed with them. She did not want to yell.

"Flora~". Helia insisted; of course he knew she was lying. Flora sighed.

She took his other hand with both of her own and squeezed it tightly. "Listen, honey, I'm quite disappointed right now and," Flora saw the shock on Helia's face and changed her sentence immediately. "Not with you, not at all!"

Helia's features turned back to normal, a wave of relief coming all over his face. Flora felt bad for having him feel this way, but… she simply couldn't do otherwise at that moment. "Go on, Love."

Flora sighed again. "They told me something I did not like… and that you won't like either, I think. For now I'm still disappointed and I cannot tell you now without breaking down. So, give me just a little amount of time, and when I'll calm down, I'll tell you." She rubbed the back of his hand with the palm her right one. "Okay, honey?"

"Okay…" Helia obliged, but soon took the back of her head in his hand and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "But if they insulted you or so, you know that I cannot,"

"They did not." Flora replied, cutting him off again. She sighed and returned his action with a kiss on his cheek. "They just… took a decision that I'm not pleased with. I will tell you which one soon, you have to know. But not today, or at least, not right now."

"I understand…" Helia told her. Flora, noticing the worried and almost sad expression that took place on his face, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tenderly. He placed his hand behind her back and returned her gesture. For the first time, Flora really felt a long-time comfort, thanks to the presence of her husband. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him despite everything. She was so lucky to have him in her life.

"I love you Helia, never doubt this."

"And I love you."

* * *

"Where are you going again?" Helia asked her with a smile. After a an hour or two sitting on the bench together with their fingers intertwined, Flora stood up and unwillingly parted from their embrace. Helia had looked at her with false suspicion, and Flora replied with another smile of her own.

"I have an appointment with Layla, I have to go to the centre of Linfea."

Helia playfully rolled his eyes. "Can't I have you for myself just a minute today?"

"Sorry, you'll have to wait tonight." Flora stuck her tongue out at him. Helia laughed softly, but instead of going away, Flora bent down and dropped a small kiss on his lips. He took her hands and squeezed it for a second.

"See you tonight then, Love."

After this, Helia walked to the gardens while Flora went down the city without changing outfits and began directing towards the centre of Linfea, which was only half a mile away from the castle, since it was at the middle of the city of trees, the most known city of the planet. All throughout her way, Flora's regrets of not changing outfits kept growing up as every person who recognized her and bowed at her –and some went as far as asking for autographs-. Of course this was a situation Flora was used to when she had descended the streets of Linfea with Helia for ceremonies or when they annually saluted their people, but when she did it alone to go somewhere, she always did change herself so no one would recognize her, or at least, less people would. And this time, she did the mistake of not doing so leading her to be stopped every minute. Of course this was not a pain; she loved the people and was glad they liked her because they related to her. But this day, she had to meet Layla and was in a rush, because she knew her friend had managed to find some free time this day and had to go back to Andros soon, to prepare something important she did not tell Flora.

After ten minutes of walking –and ten others of being stopped by some people-, the brunette finally reached her destination, and spotted her best friend sitting on a bench in the small private park reserved to the rulers, where they could go out and talk in peace when the inside of the castle turned to be too hot.

Layla then turned her head towards her and smiled brightly, standing up and opening her arms for a friendly hug. Flora speeded up and embraced her friend tenderly. It had been weeks since the two had not seen each other, and the brunette had missed her a lot.

The Queen of Andros, just like Flora, was still looking good and elegant, but signs of tiredness could be easily seen with the bags under her eyes. The brunette never told it to her, but she knew it was because she was ruling alone. She did not think about her getting married, but she thought that finding a relative or an Andros friend to help her with the ruling of the kingdom would be better for her health. Unlike Linfea, the council was only secondary and met during conflictual situations. All the decisions were taken by Layla, and voted by their people; but Flora knew this was becoming too hard for her.

"I'm so glad to see you, Layla." Flora whispered. Layla let go of her and invited her to sit next to her. "I'm glad too. I have so much to tell you!"

"And I'd be happy to hear your stories!" The brunette excitedly said to her. But instead of beginning her telling, Layla asked her friend "You looked strange when you arrived; did something happen?"

Flora's eyes widened as the situation of the morning she spent with the council came back on her mind. The pressure she and Helia were going to be under, the child who would only be pure relief, Helia's reaction that was to come… Flora sighed.

"Something happened, but that's not important." She lied with a fake smile which turned to a true one when her attention turned back to Layla. "So, instead, what do you have to tell me?"

The Queen of Andros returned her grin, and soon embarrassment covered her face as a slight blush appeared on it. "W-Well, that's something you'll like, I-I think…"

"So, go on!" Flora insisted. Layla's blush grew in surface, and certainly knowing she couldn't keep this for herself for long, she told her friend everything.

"I'm getting married with Nex."

A silence fell between the two, but Flora's excitement got the upper hand as she let out a small scream of happiness. "That's wonderful Layla! I'm so happy for you!"

Layla gave her a sad smile. "Thanks, Flo'."

Flora's excitement dropped down with Layla's smile from the minute the sentence exited her mouth. Something was wrong… "You don't look so happy with this… Are you?"

"Of course I'm happy! I love Nex! But that's the problem…" The Andros Queen replied looking up, but then her gaze dropped back on the grass in front of her. "I'm scared, Flora." Layla said and buried her face on the palm of her hands. Flora's eyes widened in shock at her best friend's, her sister-like's, her confidant's reaction. For years, the brunette had learnt that it was really difficult to have Layla breaking down this way, and even more in front of people. And here the Queen of Andros was; crying rivers, sobbing, only earning shock from Flora.

After a minute of shock, Flora placed her hand on her friend's shoulder in comfort, even though she knew it was not enough to calm her down. "What are you scared of?"

"Everything!" Layla snapped, and Flora jumped. "The wedding, the people, the kingdom… Nabu!"

Flora gasped after hearing Layla's dead fiancé's name passing through her lips. This was a name she had rarely heard for years, except the times when she told her some stories from her past with him after the brunette's demands, or when the Andros Queen initiated the subject.

"Nabu?" Flora asked; unable to understand why Layla would be scared of him. "Why are you scared of Nabu?"

Layla removed her face from her hands and sighed. "I'm not scared of him as a person…"

Flora placed her hand on her friend's in comfort, the same way Layla had done seven years before and trying to give her the same comfort that had helped her telling her about Helia. "Then, what is wrong Layla? You can tell me."

The Andros Queen lifted her look up to meet Flora's emerald one, and finally managed to put her fear into words. "I'm scared that… he's angry at me. I mean, when Nex proposed two months ago, I was so happy, but since last week I cannot stop thinking about what Nabu might be thinking-"

"I'm sure he's not angry, not even jealous." Flora tried to reassure her best friend, but this was useless. Flora did otherwise and changed her way to do. "Listen, Layla… Helia came back to me, and this makes me literally the luckiest woman of all. But during this horrible year, unlike you, when he was not there, I was not able to move on with life, and unable to be happy."

Layla cut her off. "You did not foresee what happened, and you two had spent your whole life together, this was shock…."

"But he was still dead." Flora said. "You however, are so courageous: you managed to find some happiness back. When you love someone, his or her happiness is what matters the most, and I'm sure that's what Nabu would have wished for you."

"So, you think he does not feel any resentment?" Layla asked, and Flora shook her head in response.

"Besides, it is not like you forgot about him. You love Nex, and that's great, but Nabu stills holds a huge place on your heart. You moved on, and I'm sure he would feel happy about this."

This time, a true smile appeared on Layla's face. Flora had achieved her goal: comforting and reassuring her friend. "So, I can count on you and Helia for my wedding next week?"

Flora smiled brightly. "Of course you can!"

* * *

 **I hope you liked this chapter! The wedding of Layla will be on the next chapter! Or will it... ? You'll see the next time! (and the child will certainly be a bigger issue later in the fanfiction, not immediatly.) I'd like to read your opinions about this chapter, about the council and about what you expect on the next chapter (well, this is told in the summary, but in which circumstances will it happen!)**

 **See you on the next chapter!**


End file.
